


Look At This Mess We've Made

by Hollyspacey



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy Lewis & Tony Stark Friendship, Disney Movies, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Misunderstandings, Movie Night, Stubborn Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 08:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2725913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollyspacey/pseuds/Hollyspacey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Steve are perfect for each other, if only they could get their act together. Or, you know, just say what they want and not let a little misunderstanding get in the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Never Saw You Coming...

**Author's Note:**

> Well. I am kinda obsessed with this fandom right now, and I am totally ok with that. And, as everyone was super nice when I posted my first fic, I am being brave and posting this too. This didn't turn out exactly as I planned, but whatever. Each chapter is one scene, told first from the POV of Darcy, and then Steve. I hope it's not too confusing. Un-beta'ed, so all mistakes are my own. Please be gentle, and enjoy!
> 
> As always, I own nothing. I'm just borrowing everyone and I'll be sure to put them back when I'm done. :)

Darcy Lewis had a problem. She liked Captain America. Well, Steve Rogers, but whatever. Not that she would turn the Captain away, that tight suit wasn't exactly what she would call a turn off. But the suit wasn't what she liked. She liked the dorky, slightly awkward Steve. However, she didn't just like Steve Rogers, she _like_ liked him. Of course, Steve had absolutely no clue. He seemed to be delightfully oblivious to lots of things, and Darcy's attempts at flirtation seemed to be at the top of the list. No amount of double entendres, eyelash batting, or seemingly innocent touching seemed to do the trick. Of course she could make him stutter or turn bright red, but Darcy hoped for a different reaction altogether. As it was, she settled for being his friend.

The first time they met was the day that Jane and Darcy moved into Stark Tower. Jane refused to allow the moving men to bring in some of her more delicate equipment, and so Darcy was forced to help drag it into the labs. Darcy was not pleased.

"Jane. These people are professionals. This is literally their job. So, why can't we let them do the heavy lifting, why me? Think about it, this stuff is theoretically capable of ripping apart space and time and yet you think it's totally cool for the girl who, just yesterday, struggled eating a piece of cake and had to walk around all day covered in frosting? Jane, do you not see the problem in that? What if I drop it and I end up in Asgard or with the space elf thingies?"

Jane shot her a look, before turning back to her ionic something detector. "Calm down, Darcy. You are overreacting. You just want to go wandering off and find something to get into."

Darcy paused, looking shocked, "That is so hurtful. And so very true. What is the point of living here, in Tony Stark's tower, on his dime, in the coolest city in the world, surrounded by superheroes, if I can't have some fun?! It's practically a requirement that I find something to get me into troub- oof!"

Darcy's words were cut off as she ran face-first into a solid wall. A very warm, muscle-y wall. She felt a pair of rather large hands grab her by the arms so she could catch her balance and she looked up into the devastatingly handsome face of one Captain America. Not the trouble she was expecting, but it would do.

"Well, hello there Captain." Darcy said, with a jaunty grin and a salute.

The shadow of a smirk crossed his face as he looked down at Darcy. "Hello there, ma'am. And it's Steve, please."

"You got it, Steve. Sorry for barreling into you. That's all on me, dude." Darcy allowed herself to stare unabashedly for a moment. So tall. So sturdy. And that face! God bless America, indeed. Darcy glanced at his hands, which were still holding her arms, and smirked up at him. He quickly pulled his arms away and Darcy watched as a pink glow spread over his face.

Ooh, a blusher. This was gonna be fun.

"Oh! I'm Darcy Lewis, by the way. Lab monkey and scientist babysitter extraordinaire. And this one is my favorite little scientist, Dr. Jane Foster," she gestured grandly towards Jane, who had already gotten distracted by something sciencey. After a moment, it was clear Jane wasn't paying a bit of attention to them. "Yeah, don't take it personally, she ignores me all the time. Soooo, Steve. Do you live here at the Tower? Please tell me you do, because I am so looking forward to running into you more often. Although perhaps less literally. Also, in case you haven't noticed, my mouth tends to move faster than my brain, so I am sorry about the rambling and anything inappropriate that will inevitably come out of my mouth. Just pull a Jane and ignore me."

Steve let out a laugh, "No, ma'am. It's alright, I don't mind. It's actually...refreshing."

Darcy threw back her head bursting out with laughter, "I love it! Jane, did you hear that? I'm refreshing!" Jane grunted in response.

Darcy just shrugged and Steve stared at her a moment, grinning, before clearing his throat, "Well, I'd better go. I was actually down here looking for Stark, but he is obviously not here. Not that I'm not glad I came down here. It was nice to meet you. And Doctor Foster too, of course."

Oh, there was that blush again. She should not be enjoying this so much.

He shook his head, "Looks like I am rambling, too."

Darcy chuckled, "That's cool. Anytime you wanna ramble to each other, come find me. It was nice meeting you, Steve."

"You too, Darcy" He returned her salute and grinned as he heard her laughing behind him.

Darcy watched him leave the lab, enjoying every minute. What was that saying? _I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave._ Yep, Darcy would bet money that was about Steve Rogers and his butt. Even his old man khakis couldn't hide that national wonder.

Shaking off her lecherous thoughts, Darcy wheeled toward her friend, "Oh. My. God. Jane. Jane Foster!"

Darcy poked Jane in the face until the scientist stopped and glared at her, "Yes?"

Darcy hopped up on the counter and stared at Jane. "Seriously? Did you really not notice that gorgeous specimen just now? I know you have a lady boner for all this science equipment, but my God, Jane! That was Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, who, as it turns out, is actually very cool and very cute. And you didn't even blink an eye!"

Jane glanced at the door, "Oh, that was the Captain? Thor speaks very highly of him. I would've loved to have met him." Jane pondered the thought for a moment before being drawn back in by the lure of science. Darcy rolled her eyes and sighed. Jane just didn't understand. Whatever.

Darcy went back to her unpacking, but her mind kept drifting back to her little encounter with Steve. This was going to be interesting.

 

* * *

 

 

Steve had put off talking to Tony as long as he could, but he couldn't avoid him forever. It wasn't that he disliked the man exactly, but Stark knew all the right buttons to push to rile Steve up.

However, Tony had agreed to tinker around a bit with the Captain's suit and shield and make some improvements to them and although he could be a jerk, there was no denying that he was a genius. He certainly took after his father in that respect.

So, Steve was forced to turn to Tony for help. He wandered down to the labs, but was taken aback to see boxes and strange pieces of machinery littering the hallway outside of it. He could hear a lady's voice drifting from inside and when he got closer to the windows, he could see two women in the lab. He frowned, before he remembered Thor announcing that his, "wise and beautiful maiden" was hired by Tony and would soon be moving into the Tower along with her assistant. This must be them.

Both were pretty brunettes, one was very petite and turning knobs on some sort of machine and the other one was curvier and carrying a big antennae and talking away, either not noticing or not caring that the other woman was not listening. At least they looked normal. The last thing anyone needed were more scientists like Stark running around.

Steve wasn't really in the mood to socialize, but his manners steered him into the lab to welcome his new neighbors. He knocked gently on the door frame but they didn't hear him over their conversation, if you could call it that. Only one of them seemed to be doing any talking. He slowly moved into the lab, but was stopped short when one of the women slammed into him, her voice cutting off mid-sentence. He grabbed on to her arm, steadying her and looked down into the face of one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Her eyes were wide and bright, she had wavy brown hair and bright red lips. She could have stepped straight out of his time. In the split second their bodies were pressed together, Steve also noticed that she had quite the figure. He gave in to a moment's thought about how he'd like to hold her a bit longer, with slightly less clothing. Then she smirked up at him, eyes full of mischief, and saluted.

Yep, he was definitely a goner.


	2. Chapter 2

The night after Jane and Darcy arrived at the Tower, Tony threw a welcome dinner and invited the whole gang. Darcy was beyond excited. She had already met most everyone, but she was curious to see these larger than life superheroes in such a domestic setting. And if that meant spending more time with a certain American icon, then that was fine with her. She was slightly embarrassed by how often her thoughts had turned to that super-hunk.

After settling in that first night, Darcy had retired to her new apartment to finish unpacking and to get settled in. But she couldn't stop thinking about Steve. She grabbed her laptop and jumped in her bed and googled the super soldier. She was familiar with parts of his story both from various history classes in school, and, more recently, from Thor's stories. It was kind of mind boggling that she had actually met him. And that he was so nice. And built.

Nope, no, no way. Best not to go down that road. The last thing she needed was to develop a crush on Captain America.

That didn't stop her from grinning at the thought of seeing him at the welcome dinner. The next night, she spent a mortifying amount of time choosing her outfit. Of course, her luck had it that she was wearing her uber-casual, not-super-flattering moving clothes the day before when she met Steve. And it's not like she was dressing for a date, but she did want Steve to know that she didn't always dress like a hobo. After much huffing and clothes-throwing, she settled on her favorite dress. The blue one, not too dressy but definitely not casual, the one that never failed to make her feel like a pin-up girl.

Once she was satisfied that she looked pretty hot, she walked across the hall and knocked on the door to the room Jane and Thor shared. "Lady Darcy! Are you ready to feast with my battle brethren?" Thor's loud voice boomed at her as he opened the door.

"Sure am, big guy. Is Jane ready?"

At that moment, Jane walked into the room, "Yes, just give me a second. I need to grab my notebook, I have some ideas to show Tony and Bruce at dinner."

"No! Absolutely not! This is a science free night. You are going to sit down and eat and talk about non-sciencey things and socialize like a normal person."

Jane frowned, "Fine. But I'm not going to have any fun." Darcy jokingly called herself Jane's babysitter, but it was moments like this that she felt it was closer to the truth than she'd like to admit. Darcy rolled her eyes and grabbed Jane's notebook, "I'll make you a deal. How about I take your notebook and if you are good, I will let you have it back after dinner. A reward for being social, okay?"

Jane grinned, "Yes ma'am," slipping her arm in Darcy's and heading towards the door. Thor followed them, chuckling. They entered the dining room shared by the apartments on the floor. Tony and Pepper stood talking to Bruce in front of the bar. Pepper greeted them as they walked in and motioned for them to come over and join the conversation. Darcy wandered over to the bar and began to pour herself a glass of wine. Ooh, the good stuff. She should've known Tony wouldn't be one to skimp, especially on alcohol. As she was about to turn around, Darcy could feel someone standing behind her. She slowly turned around to see two gorgeous and very intimidating people dressed in all black standing behind her. The man had some ridiculously impressive arms on him and a slight smirk on his face. The lady was beautiful, with dark red hair and a 'I could kill you with a toothpick' vibe. Gulp.

Darcy suppressed a shiver and smiled at the two scary newcomers. She could make a good guess at who they were. Best to not show that she was intimidated. "Hello there, Darcy Lewis. Let me guess, the legendary Hawkeye and Black Widow?" The redhead lifted an eyebrow and continued staring at Darcy. Yikes. The guy just laughed and looked at his companion, "See, Tash, I told you it wasn't gonna be easy to scare her. You heard all about that taser of hers." The woman just glared at him. "Hey Darcy, you can call me Clint. And this is the lovely Natasha. Just ignore the glaring and scariness. It means that she likes you. I think. Anyway, I remember you from New Mexico but it's nice to officially meet you."

"No way! You were in New Mexico? I so don't remember seeing you."

He grinned at her, "No, you didn't see me. But I saw you. I was tasked with watching you and Dr. Foster for awhile."

Darcy grimaced, not super happy with the idea that she and Jane had been spied on. Thanks, SHIELD. "O-kay. Well, that's not creepy or stalkerish at all." This earned a small laugh from Natasha, and she gave Darcy a once-over before nodding. "Welcome to the Tower, Darcy."

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you both." She then sent a stern look to Clint, "And no more creepy spying, bird-man. Please and thank you."

He laughed, "No promises, the hawk is always watching." Natasha grabbed his arm and steered him back towards the group, shooting Darcy a wink over her shoulder. Whew. That went well, she had all her body parts at least. She had survived meeting Hawkeye and Black Widow. Fighting the urge to do a little victory dance, she turned to walk towards the group when a new arrival walked through the door.

Steve. Her stomach did a weird little flip flop and Darcy forced herself to calm down. _Don't be silly, Darce. Be a normal person. Be calm. Don't stare. It will be the hardest thing you've ever had to do, but you cannot stare at Captain America. Be cool._ He scanned the group before his eyes landed on hers. He grinned and headed towards her but he had only crossed half the space when Tony's voice rang out, "Captain Frostbite! Nice of you to join us."

Darcy could see Steve's jaw clench as he pasted on a friendly smile. With another glance at Darcy, he headed over to the group. Darcy followed and stood across from him. She fell into a conversation with Pepper and Bruce, but she could feel Steve glancing at her a few times. Interesting. Maybe she wasn't the only one with a staring problem. Thor started a story about a mission that he and Steve had recently been on, and when Steve joined in, Darcy took her chance to look at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered. She watched him telling his story, getting more and more animated, and his hands caught her attention. Goodness, they were massive. She couldn't help but imagine what he could do with those hands...

Bad idea.

She could feel her face flame and glanced around at the rest of the group, praying no one was paying attention to her. No such luck. And of course it would be Natasha. The super spy just tilted her head and arched that eyebrow. Darcy nonchalantly took a sip of her wine and mentally cursed herself. _Way to go, Darce._ Thankfully, Darcy was spared from embarrassing herself further by the arrival of the food. Darcy sat down at the table beside Jane, who was, in turn, beside Thor. The chair to her left was empty, but moments later, "Is this seat taken?" She looked up at the man who had filled her thoughts an embarrassing amount and nodded, surprisingly calm, "It's all yours."

By the time desert was brought out, Darcy was in too deep. Steve was so nice and so easy to talk to, it was ridiculous. The conversation flowed from subject to subject, and at times it felt like they were the only two in the room. Darcy loved talking to him, and she found it kind of adorable that she had to keep explaining her cultural references to him. She made it her mission to bring Steve into the modern age. When she found out he hadn't seen any of the Disney movies that had come out since his little ice nap, she shrieked, "Steve! Oh my God, we are so having a Disney movie night and you are gonna love them! I am gonna go ahead and warn you though, I know the words to all the songs and I sing them, very loudly and very off-key." Jane was pulled from her conversation by Darcy's squeak and leaned across the table, "She is not lying. You should prepare yourself."

Darcy pushed her friend and rolled her eyes, but Steve could see she was grinning, "Don't listen to Jane. You'll love it. And I'll have you singing along with me in no time. What about tomorrow night? Are you free? I have scoped out the tv in the living room and wow. We can make it a real movie night, popcorn and soda and massive amounts of candy." Steve laughed at Darcy's enthusiasm, "Yes, I'm free. That sounds fun." She clasped her hands together, "Yay! I cannot wait!"

When the food was gone and the conversations started petering out, it was late and everyone started heading back to their rooms. Although Steve's room was also on this floor of the tower, it was on the opposite side. Still, he walked Darcy down the hall to her door and they stood there awkwardly for a few moments. It almost felt like a date, and Darcy let herself pretend for a moment that it was, that they had been out on the town and he had walked her home and now he was about to kiss her.

She practically swooned.

Steve looked at Darcy for a few moments with an unreadable expression on his face, before breathing in deeply and smiling down at her. "This was fun. Tony certainly knows how to throw a dinner party."

"For real, I am stuffed... It was really nice talking to you. And I was serious about that movie night, but if you have plans or you don't want to, that's fine. I can get very excitable sometimes and it can be a bit much, so don't feel obligated or anything." she said, with self-deprecating laugh.

"No, no, I am looking forward to it. I've heard good things, and it will be nice to actually get some of people's references once in awhile." He finished with a wry smile.

Darcy tried to control her excitement, "Ok, good. I'll see you tomorrow. Night, Steve."

"Goodnight, Darcy. See you tomorrow." Darcy closed the door behind her and leaned against it, giddy at the night's events and the thought of seeing him again. Yeah, this whole not-having-a-crush-on-Captain-America thing was so not happening.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Steve was very much looking forward to Jane and Darcy's welcome dinner, and he would be lying if he said that a certain lab assistant had nothing to do with it. For whatever reason, their brief meeting kept replaying in his mind. All day, he'd think he heard her laughing and he'd turn and she wasn't there. Just that morning, he'd been out running and he would've sworn that he saw her in the park, but it was just a random girl. He couldn't even do any drawing without wanting to sketch her lips or the look on her face when she first saw him. This made Steve very uncomfortable.

He hadn't felt this way about anyone other than Peggy. Just the thought of Peggy could still bring an ache to his chest, but he refused to stay in that sadness forever. And even though there were days that he missed her more than he thought possible, he had made himself move on. A part of him would always love her, but he had spent too long wallowing in his despair. There was simply no going back. He was beyond ready for something good in his life. But this, this infatuation with a girl he had only just met was not only unexpected, but frightening.

Maybe if he saw her again, whatever this obsession was, would stop. He didn't even know the girl, for pete's sake.

Steve walked into the dining area to see that everyone was already there. He scanned the room, stopping when he saw Darcy. He felt a smile pop up on his face and he headed her way. That was when Tony's big mouth rang out to him. He clenched his jaw, _absolutely do NOT let Tony see that you are interested in her. He will embarass you and her and you'll never hear the end of it._ With a glance towards Darcy, he headed over to talk to Tony and the rest of the group. She joined them and started talking to Pepper and Bruce. Steve tried to focus on the conversation in front of him, but his eyes kept drifting over to Darcy. She looked radiant tonight. That dress did things to her figure that Steve was sure he'd be thinking about later tonight, when he was alone in bed. Most importantly, she still had that sparkle in her eye and that devilish grin. No, don't think about her grin. Or her lips.

The conversation turned to a recent mission Steve and Thor had just finished. He tore himself away from his perusal of Darcy and regaled the group with the story of what had gone down. At some point during his story he grew aware that Darcy was watching him as he had watched her, and a wave of happiness washed over him. He promised himself that he wouldn't let this one slip away. When the time came to eat, Steve made sure to maneuver around the room in a way that would lead him right to the seat beside her. When he asked if it was alright to sit, he was pleased to see that she looked glad for him to be there. He was certain that she would spend the dinner paying attention to Jane and Thor, but she surprised him by turning his way almost immediately, "So, Cap, tell me about yourself."

He chuckled, "What would you like to know?"

"Absolutely everything, and not the history textbook version. Wow, that must be weird to know that kids learn about you in school, that people look up to you as a hero, is it weird? It's gotta be weird."

"Yes, weird is certainly one way to describe it. At the time, we were just doing what had to be done, being heroic never crossed our minds."

"Oh, now you're being modest. You guys were badass, those guys never knew what him 'em. The whole kicking Nazi ass thing was majorly cool"

"I don't think I've ever been called badass or cool before," Steve said laughing.

"I find that hard to believe." Darcy shot back with a shy grin.

"Well, before I was Captain America, I was just scrawny little Steve Rogers from Brooklyn..." Steve launched into a story about his pre-serum days, skinny little Steve taking on bullies twice his size, defending the little people, who actually weren't so little compared to him. Darcy shot back with her own story of childhood horror, high school and all the menace of teenage girls.

There were no conversational lulls, no awkward moments, just real conversation, something Steve didn't even know he missed. Of course, there were a few moments when Darcy would make a cultural reference that he didn't understand, but instead of laughing at him or making a big deal about it like Tony or the others would, she just explained what it was from. Of course, she did freak out when she found out he hadn't seen any recent Disney movies, but then she promised to educate him and they made plans to watch movies the next night. Steve had never been so glad to be clueless about something.

As the night ended, he walked with her back to her room. When they got to her door, she stood there looking up at him with a sparkle in her eye, and it took all he had not to wrap his arms around her and kiss her gently. To be honest, it was a thought he had been fighting all night. If he were a different man, he might have done it. He just didn't know how to go about it.

Times had changed, and while he knew what was proper in his day, but he had not been attracted to a woman in this time and although women were much more progressive now, he didn't want to presume anything. So, he was a gentleman and kept his hands to himself. They said their goodbyes and Steve wandered back to his old room. He undressed and slipped into bed, but he couldn't get Darcy off his mind. Not just the way she looked, but everything. She was funny and whip-smart and just so _real_. He didn't have to play the part of superhero or soldier, he could just be Steve and it was a wonderful feeling.  
  



	3. Chapter 3

What started as Steve's Disney Education Movie Night soon turned into Darcy's favorite night of the week. She found herself looking forward to these nights more often than she would like to admit. The night changed, as Steve sometimes had to leave town on official Avengers business and sometimes Darcy had to stay overnight in the lab to make sure that Jane didn't blow up Manhattan or set the Tower on fire. But every few days, Darcy would get text from her favorite American hero: ' **Movie tonight?** '  And Darcy would get that fluttery feeling and reply back with an all caps ' **YES!** ' along with the name of the movie she had chosen.

Tonight's movie selection was The Little Mermaid, a personal favorite of Darcy's. She took this as an opportunity to wear her new ocean blue sweater. The fact that it made her look super cute and displayed the girls really well had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nope. She gathered some snacks and drinks and dragged her big cozy blanket into the common room and asked JARVIS to queue up the movie.

A few minutes later Steve wandered in, looking oh so fine. "Hey, Stevie, come on and get cozy while I introduce you to my childhood." Darcy grinned and patted the couch beside her. Steve came and sat down and let Darcy throw the blanket over him and curl up at his side. The movie began and soon the two were engrossed in the story.

Darcy, however, was just coming off one of Jane's science benders, which meant she and sleep hadn't seen each other very much in the past few days. This was the only excuse she had for falling asleep before Ariel even got her legs. Well, maybe the warm body she had curled up next to had something to do with it. She wouldn't think about that though. All she knew was that one moment her favorite mermaid was lusting after Prince Eric and the next, the credits were rolling. _I fell asleep on him! I so hope I didn't snore. Oh God, or drool on him!_ After a surreptitious glance to make sure there were no wet patches on his shoulder she sat up and looked at him.

He had a strained look on his face and Darcy was about to ask what was wrong when she realized her hand was touching something suspiciously warm and hard. Her eyes widened and she felt a tingle run through her body, followed closely by a thought of, _This is so not the way I wanted to touch that particular national treasure. Please ground, open up and swallow me._ She jerked her hand back, turning bright red and clearing her throat, "SO. How did you like the movie?" she squeaked out.

Steve took a deep breath, and answered with a huskiness in his voice that nearly undid Darcy, "Yeah. Good. It was good. Good movie." This was a brand new territory for them.

Part of Darcy wanted to stretch up and kiss him, maybe crawl into his lap and show him just how patriotic she could be. But another part screamed the warning that he had never shown any indication that he thought of her as more than a friend. Any, ahem, perkiness was just a natural reaction and was so not an invitation. Also, any man who was interested in her would have taken this little hiccup as an excuse to make a move and the man beside her was sitting tense and still as a stone. Seriously, the guy looked traumatized. Darcy was mortified.

The universe took pity on her at that moment, however, because Thor and Jane came in to see if they missed movie night. Steve took his chance and practically ran out of the room, leaving Darcy sitting there stunned and, if she were truthful, a little disappointed.

"What was that about?" Jane asked as Thor rifled through the snacks Darcy and Steve hadn't finished.

"What? Oh, Steve? I guess he didn't like the movie." _Or me_.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Oh, please. He could have set a land speed record as fast as he booked it out of here. What happened?" Darcy sighed and glanced at Thor, "I don't know what happened. I don't- can we not discuss this?"

Darcy started to stand before Jane grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, "Nope. I am your best friend and I demand to know what happened. Did we interrupt something? Was he finally doing something about all that sexual tension between you two?"

Darcy glared at Jane, "First, there is no sexual tension, unless it's one-sided. He does not think of me that way. But to answer your question, no. He didn't do anything... But, I may have accidentally put the moves on him. I think I molested Captain America!" Jane stared at Darcy, confused and a little unsure of how to respond, and even Thor had put stopped shoveling M&M's into his mouth to stare at her.

Jane blinked slowly, "Maybe you better tell me exactly what happened."

Darcy covered her face with her hands and groaned, before flopping back on the couch and telling the whole story, in agonizing detail. When she finished, both Thor and Jane sat there, two blank faces staring back at her.

Then, Thor broke out into a slow grin. "This is a joyous occasion! You and my shield brother, Steve, are finally courting! I am most pleased at this union!"

"Whoa there, big guy. Calm down. We are so not 'courting.' I accidentally grabbed his junk and scared the bejeezus out of him. I'll be surprised if he speaks to me after this, unless it's to call me a perv and to tell me to stay away from him." Darcy groaned into a pillow.

"Nonsense! You two have much in common and I know that Steve has strong feelings for you just as my Jane has told me of your feelings for him!"

Darcy glared at Jane, "Really? You told Thor? Bros before hoes, Jane!" before turning back to him, "Look, Thor, Steve doesn't like me. We are friends. Although me getting handsy with him may have messed that up. He looked like I had just punched a kitten in front of him! That was not the face of a man overcome with lust. Or _strong feelings_ , or whatever. Ugh. I am just going to go to bed and the next time I see him I'm going to pretend nothing happened. Night guys." Darcy hugged Jane and gathered her things before walking to her apartment. She threw herself on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh, letting the humiliation wash over her as she replayed every  horrific detail until she fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

  
It was movie night, and Steve was ecstatic.

He enjoyed these nights watching movies with Darcy more than her would admit to anyone. Sure, he ended up loving most of the movies, but he really loved spending time with Darcy. It was their special thing and he couldn't wait for the days when he would text her and get back that enthusiastic reply. Tonight was The Little Mermaid, which he had been informed, in between her singing about poor, unfortunate souls, was Darcy's favorite movie growing up. He liked these little glimpses into Darcy's past. He wandered into the common room to see that Darcy was ready and waiting for him. She had on a tight, blue sweater that made his mouth go dry. He told himself to try not to pay too much attention to that, he was going to have to sit through an entire movie after all.

He slid down on the couch beside her and was pleased when she shared her blanket and curled up beside him. She was so warm and soft and her soft smell filled his nostrils as he stealthily took a deep breath. So what if it made him feel a little creepy. The movie started and he soon recognized some of the songs that Darcy had sung at one point or another. He was engrossed in the movie when he realized that her favorite song, the one about souls came on, and she wasn't singing along. He glanced down at her head on his shoulder and saw that her eyes were closed, and her breathing steady. She had a soft, vulnerable look on her face and his heart swelled looking at her. She looked so young and innocent. Steve felt his lips twitch as he settled back, content to have her comfortable weight against him.

He turned his attention back to the movie, every so often glancing down at the girl who had his heart. Near the end of the movie, something must have disturbed her sleep, because she shifted and snuggled deeper into Steve's side. He just shifted to allow her to fit against him, but moments later his heart nearly stopped.

Her hand, which had previously been at her side, was now in Steve's lap. Touching a part of his body that was suddenly wide awake.

Steve paused and gently tried to nudge her hand away but Darcy just frowned and mumbled something in a sleepy voice before drifting off again. Her hand, however, remained firmly in place, latched on to him. Steve sat there, feeling his heart pound and his breath come faster. This was not right. The feeling of her hand on him was the most divine thing he'd ever felt, but she was dead asleep and Steve felt dirty that he was getting pleasure from an unconscious gesture.

On the tv, the movie was ending and Steve cleared his throat a few times and softly said Darcy's name. After a few moments, Darcy awoke and looked up at him, groggily. She must have seen the tension on Steve's face because she asked him what was wrong.

A split second later, she must have realized where exactly her hand was, because her eyes widened and she jerked away, face as red as Steve was certain his was. Her voice was high and nervous as she asked him about the movie. Steve felt his heart drop. Here he was allowing a small bit of hope that this might allow her to see him as more than a friend, and she was sitting there looking stricken. He felt like a pervert. She probably thought he was a lecherous old man, who was trying to take advantage of her. He felt sick.

He was about to apologize and explain himself when Thor and Jane walked in, and, like a coward, he ran. He locked himself in his room and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. This is not how it was supposed to turn out. He had wanted to ask her to dinner, take her out on a real date, see where things could go between them, and now he doubted whether she would even want to look at him again. He was ashamed that he had let it get to this point, he should have asked her out weeks ago. Then, maybe, she would be with him now and this whole mess would have never happened. He wanted to go to her now, explain himself, but he chickened out. Instead, he took the longest, coldest shower he could stand, before crawling into bed and hoping tomorrow would give him a chance to fix this.  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief mentions of panic attacks, so if that's a trigger, maybe avoid this chapter. :)

Aside from the mountain of sexual tension between her and Steve, Darcy actually loved living in Stark Tower. It was all so bizarre, for sure, hanging with actual superheroes, LIVING with actual superheroes. Not to mention that her boss was technically Pepper Potts. THE Pepper Potts. And her title of Lab Assistant was simply a fancy way of saying that she was the babysitter of Jane, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark. Yes, THE Tony Stark. It was all a lot to take in.

The job itself wasn't difficult, Darcy was used to feeding and watering scientists from her time with Jane and Erik in New Mexico. And Bruce was generally pretty easy to get along with. So mellow. Tony, however, was the exact opposite of mellow. He was, well, Tony Stark. His reputation was well-earned, that was for sure. Loud, opinionated, always steps away from a sexual harassment lawsuit. That was Tony.

Darcy, of course, loved him.

He must have sensed a kindred spirit in her as well, because she was the only one aside from Pepper who had any hope of corralling him out of the lab after one of his Science! benders. Swapping insults and creative nicknames had bonded the two, and Darcy felt a fondness towards Tony that she had never expected. He was like a cool uncle who occasionally stared at Darcy's boobs. Creepy flirtation aside, the two were fast friends. And, naturally, spending so much time together meant that Darcy grew to know Tony's inner workings. She could tell with  glance what he was thinking, moments before the words came out of his mouth. The man did not have a filter. This is how Darcy found out about his panic attacks. She knew how it felt and that all the stress he was under only made it worse. The first time she mentioned it to him, he got angry and stormed off. After cooling off, he must have realized that having someone who knew what he was going through might help, and he opened up to Darcy. And talking helped. So, whenever Darcy could see that Tony was stretching himself too thin, she made sure to dial him back to human levels. They ended up spending lots of time in his portion of the lab, just talking. It was refreshing to see that underneath the ego and flash, there was a real person with real person problems.

It was exactly one of these late night hangouts that led to the misunderstanding. The big, huge, life-altering misunderstanding.

It was a week or so after The Little Mermaid crotch-grabbing episode. Darcy and Steve had awkwardly danced around each other for two days before he and Hawkeye were called away on a mission. Darcy missed him terribly, but hoped that when he got back enough time had passed that maybe things could go back to normal. She was disappointed that things had not worked out between them, but she really wanted her friend back.

Oh well. It was pointless to keep obsessing over something she couldn't change, so Darcy threw herself into her work. Tony and Jane had been working for weeks on a piece of equipment that was very loud and noisy and important, although Darcy wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to do. She could usually keep up with Jane to a point, but whenever Jane and Tony got together they usually just ended up sounding like the teachers on Charlie Brown. Thus, Darcy let them do the sciencing and tried not to get too close to the machines that could possibly blow her up. Finally, after what seemed like endless nights in the lab, the equipment was ready to test. Tony flipped the switch and... nothing. The three sat looking at the machine as smoke began pouring out and the left side fell off. So, not exactly a success. Tony threw a wrench and let out a frustrated yell. Jane sighed and flipped through her notes, trying to find what went wrong.

The two spent the rest of the day trying to salvage pieces of the machine. Darcy knew she had her work cut out for her tonight. She ordered some takeout for the three of them, and let them work for a few more hours before she ushered them out of the lab making the point that they were exhausted and hadn't slept in days and would only make more mistakes.

Darcy gave a little prayer of thanks that Thor was there for Jane. Nothing like a hunky god to take your mind off of a minor scientific setback. She was, however, worried about Tony. Pepper was on the west coast in meetings all week and Tony was always more on edge when she was gone. Darcy made a note to keep a close eye on Tony.

She was laying in bed when her phone beeped. It was a text from Clint: **Just wanted to let you know that me and Loverboy are getting back tonight. Don't know what is going on between you two, but I suggest you do something about it. He about bit my head off when I called you Double D Darcy, and he's been moping this whole mission.** Darcy frowned before shooting back a message: **There is nothing going on between us. Nothing. I don't know what's wrong with him. Maybe you have just been extra irritating. And, STOP calling me that! I'm gonna kill you for saying it and Tony for starting it!** Clint just sent back winky face and Darcy threw down her phone with a huff, Even the thought of Hawkeye using emojis wasn't enough to put a smile on her face.

So, Steve was still being weird about what happened. Perfect. _I'll think about it tomorrow._ Darcy thought, channeling her inner Scarlett O'Hara, before checking in with JARVIS to make sure her little scientists were where they were supposed to be, and falling into a deep sleep.

 

  
"Ms. Lewis." Darcy jolted awake, looking around her room. A glance at the clock told her it was a little before four. "JARVIS?"

A polite voice from the ceiling responded, "Yes, Ms. Lewis. You said you wanted to be alerted if Mr. Stark or Mr. Foster entered the lab to do work. Mr. Stark entered the lab exactly four minutes ago."

Darcy sighed, rubbing her eyes, "Thanks, J. Don't tell him I'm coming, ok?"

"Of course, Ms. Lewis. I should also warn you that Mr. Stark is... agitated."

After a pause, Darcy stood, "Ok. Gotcha." Darcy knew that when JARVIS showed concern for Tony, it was bad. Not bothering to throw on real clothes, Darcy grabbed a cardigan to wear over her tank top and shorts, slid her feet into her bunny slippers and left her apartment, headed for the lab. When the elevator opened and she stepped out, she could hear him before she turned the corner. A loud angry song was playing and he was smashing the machine with a crowbar. Metal pieces were flying everywhere. "Turn that down, JARVIS." Darcy said when she reached the door. As the volume lowered, Tony let out a yell, "Seriously?"

Darcy cleared her throat and crept into the lab, picking up a chunk of metal in her path. "A little late for a tantrum, dontcha think, Tony?" Darcy waved the piece of debris with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here, Lewis? And why are you concerned? Last time I checked, I was old enough to be your father and also, I own this building. So I can do as I damn well please and if I want to beat the hell out of something, I'm gonna do it." He said as he took another whack at the machine.

Darcy just shrugged and sat on the couch, taking off her cardigan and slowly folding it onto the table in front of the couch, "If you wanna beat the shit out of that machine, go ahead. I'm not gonna stop you. But I don't like the thought of you down here, all alone, in that mood. So, I'm gonna sit here and watch you have your little bitch fit and then when you calm down, we are gonna sit here and talk."

"I could just throw you out of here and have JARVIS lock the door behind you. Then what?" 

Darcy threw her feet up on the table and crossed her arms behind her head, "Well, then I'd be forced to call Pepper and she will fly back here and make us both feel like unruly children, maybe even ground us, and neither of us want that. So, smash away and then c'mere, because I'm not leaving and I can wait all night." They stared at each other, neither wanting to be the first to blink.

Finally, Tony threw up his hands and sighed, "Fine. Just don't call Pepper, I hate the 'unruly child' look." Darcy grinned and swept her hand towards Tony, telling him to proceed. The volume of the music went up a bit and Tony started hitting the machine again, but his earlier vigor was gone. He halfheartedly swung the crowbar a few more times before tossing it down and wandering over to the couch to sit beside Darcy. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "You didn't have to come down here, you know. I'm a big boy." Tony said softly.

Darcy grabbed his hand and lay her head on his shoulder, "I know. And don't think I'm here to join you for a pity party. I am not. I know you can handle it when your anxiety is up, but you don't have to do it alone. I know how it feels and I also know that it's easier when you have someone there with you, someone you know has your back. And of course everyone here has your back, but it's easy to forget that sometimes."

She could feel him look down at her. "Huh. You're smarter than you look, Lewis." Darcy grinned, "Ha ha, whatever. I am going to choose to take that as a compliment, so thanks Tin Man." They talked for awhile, before Tony asked, "So, you and Rogers. What happened?" Darcy took a deep breath and shrugged. She could feign ignorance or make a joke, but Tony was always honest with her and she was very sleepy, thus her defenses were down. "Well, you know we have these movie nights, right?" Tony nodded, "Well, on our last one, I fell asleep and apparently Sleep Darcy is a flooze, because I woke up holding on to his Washington Monument with a death grip. And I am pretty sure I scared him to death because he ran out of the room and we have barely spoken since."

Tony was silent for a moment before he burst into laughter. Darcy sat patiently while he guffawed and stuttered, "You! And Stars and Stripes! And, you...aww, Darcy!" He struggled to catch his breath, tears in his eyes. "Oh, wow. Thank you, I needed that! I can't believe you manhandled an American Icon. Sorry, I shouldn't laugh at your misfortune, but that is too much. And he just ran away? Oh, that's priceless!"

Darcy just raised an eyebrow, "Are you done?"

Tony pasted a serious look on his face and nodded. "Yes, I promise. And no jokes. I'll be good. Now, what are you going to do about it? You two live here together, you can't ignore each other forever."

"I know. I just-- well, I like him. Or I did. I don't know anymore. I may have messed something up. And I didn't even mean to! I just wanted him to pull his head out of his ass and ask me out and then I had to go and latch on to little Steve and scare him off!"

"Oh, so it's 'little' Steve, huh?"

"Really? That's what you got out of that? And I can assure you 'little Steve' is not so little."

Tony pondered this a moment, then shook his head, "You know, that may be a little too much information, even for me. But seriously, Darce, I don't know why he ran off like he did, maybe he was scared or embarrassed, but I can tell you that I've seen the two of you together and that boy has it bad for you. I think his skills with the fairer sex are seriously lacking and that may be why he didn't know that the appropriate response would have been to make some fireworks with you, but I don't think you scared him off and I don't think it's over between you two. He and Clint get back tonight. Give him a day to settle in and then ask him for coffee or drag him to the park, or hell, drag him into your bedroom, rock his world."

Darcy chewed on her lip and considered what he said, "Thanks, Tony. You actually give some pretty good advice, you know. I will," She grinned at him, before she remembered something from earlier, "Oh! And stop it with the Double D Darcy stuff! You've got Clint started on it now."

Tony just glanced down and shrugged, "Well, if the shoe fits, Or the bra." He responded with a chuckle.

Darcy elbowed him before laughing herself. They talked a little longer and Darcy could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and minutes later she was fast asleep, snoring lightly against Tony's arm. He just shook his head, thinking about how he missed Pepper, but also that he was so glad that Darcy was his friend. Darcy awoke the next morning to the sound of buzzing. Tony was working on fixing the machine that he had worked so hard at destroying the night before. Darcy grinned and shrugged off the blanket Tony must have thrown over her as she slept and shuffled over to Tony. He looked up at her as she approached, "Good morning. Did you know you snore?"

Darcy flipped him the bird, "Shut it, Stark. Not before my coffee. Do you want me to bring you some?"

"You know I do. The biggest cup you can find, please. And... thanks for last night."

Darcy ran over and threw her arms around him, "Aww, anytime, T. Next time just tell me you want some company and don't make JARVIS come for me."

"Aha! So it was JARVIS! Betrayed by my own AI!" JARVIS wisely didn't respond.

Darcy laughed and threw her cardigan on as she walked out of the lab. She was so single-mindedly focused on the caffeine in her future that she almost walked right by the man standing in the hallway, "Steve! Hey! You're back! What are you doing here?"

He looked her, his face made of stone, eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his face. She could feel the tension coming off of him. Ok, so he was obviously still upset. Not exactly what she was hoping for. She felt the grin slip from her face, "Hey, you ok? What's wrong?" His jaw twitched and he took a deep breath, "I was coming to find you actually, but I can see that you were busy."

Darcy frowned, sure that he was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't quite figure out what his words were implying. "Well, here I am. What's up?" He just shook his head, "It's nothing. I'll let you get back to Tony."

And suddenly, something shifted into place. She felt her heart start to pound and her face heat up as she tried to figure out exactly where Steve was going with this. "Wait, what do you mean? What about me and Tony? What exactly are you trying to say?" Steve just turned away from her, "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. I'm going for a run, I'm sure I'll see you around." Darcy stood rooted to the spot, tears pricking her eyes. He thought she was messing around with Tony! What the hell? Darcy headed towards the kitchen. She definitely needed coffee to deal with this.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Steve was an idiot. He and Darcy had been weird around each other for days and now when he was getting up the courage to set things straight, he got called away on a mission. At least he had something to focus on other than how he had spectacularly messed up with Darcy.

Except he was lying if he said he wasn't thinking about her. He could focus on the mission while it was happening, but the moment he was alone, his mind replayed that night and all the strained moments since. Clint, of course, noticed something was off and correctly guessed who was behind Steve's foul mood. "Dude. You know that girl is practically in love with you, right?"

"I don't know who you are talking about." Steve said, trying to divert the conversation away, even though a part of him was dying to ask Clint why he said that.

"Uhh, that would be Darcy. You know, cute little thing, brown hair, big mouth, big....heart," he said, arms gesturing across his chest, "follows you around like a schoolgirl chasing the quarterback. Seriously man, you can't be that clueless."

Steve pressed his lips in a line, "I think you are mistaken. Darcy and I are friends. That's all. We just had an...off night. It's not a big deal. And I really don't want to discuss it."

Clint went to open his mouth to argue but Steve's angry glare cut him off. "Ok. Just friends, got it dude." Steve settled in that night replaying what Clint told him in his head. Was it possible that Darcy had feelings for him too? Maybe they were both being stupid and this was all just a misunderstanding. He could fix this. He had to. They didn't call him the Star Spangled Man with a Plan for nothing.

The mission ended two days later and he was beyond ready to get home. He was going to show up at Darcy's door, take her to out and lay it all out for her. He wasn't going to let her slip away from him again. He and Clint arrived back at the Tower late so he headed to bed, giddy with the thought of seeing Darcy in a few hours and setting his plan in motion. He checked with JARVIS to get Darcy's schedule and discovered she was off the next day. Perfect. The next morning, he got dressed and headed to Darcy's apartment. Maybe he should have let her know his plan, but he thought it would be romantic to surprise her. Also, if things were still awkward between them, he wanted to get the awkwardness out of the way in person, not over the phone. He had the whole day planned. He was going to take her to breakfast at her favorite diner and then they would go hang out in the park. He had brought his sketchbook, he was finally going to ask if he could draw her. He had already sketched her from memory, but he knew being able to see the real thing would be infinitely better.

Smoothing down his hair, he took a breath and knocked on her door. "I'm sorry, Captain, but Ms. Lewis is not in at the moment." JARVIS said.

"Thanks, JARVIS, do you know where she is, by any chance?"

"Yes, Ms. Lewis spent the night in the lab with Mr. Stark and she is there now." Steve frowned. Why would Darcy have spent the night in Tony's lab? If that man had made her work all night, Steve would kill him. As Steve rounded the corner, he looked into the lab and saw Tony working on something at the table. But, where was Darcy? He walked closer to the window and saw her on the couch, stretching and grinning at Tony. He froze and he could feel his heart drop to the floor. He watched as Darcy stood and walked over to Tony and they talked for a few moments before she threw her arms around him, beaming. She was wearing a tiny tank top, Steve's mouth went dry when he realized, no bra,  and sleep shorts.

Steve let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Darcy headed towards the door, laughing at something Tony had said as she pulled on her sweater. He moved back further into the hall. When Darcy saw him, she jumped like he had scared him, like he was the last person she wanted to be standing outside of that lab.

That was all he needed to see.

He couldn't talk to her right now, he had to go. Run around the city, beat up a punching bag, something. He mumbled an excuse about going for a run and walked away from her. He went down to the gym where he had a change of clothes. No. running wouldn't do, he was too mad. He grabbed a few punching bags and dragged them into the center of the gym and started getting out his frustration. He really had feelings for Darcy and now she was with Tony.

Maybe it was his fault, he shouldn't have been so scared to make a move. It wasn't that he was scared, exactly. He just didn't know how to talk to women, romantically. Sit him down with Natasha or Jane or Pepper and he was fine, but he liked Darcy. He wanted something more, something unnameable with her. And, yes, it scared him, Times were different and he wasn't sure how to make that transition from movie nights and easy conversations to being with her as something more than friends. How many nights had he lay awake wishing she were there beside him? Wishing he could go to her and hold her, feel her wrapped around him? Touched himself, imagining her? It was embarrassing, really. He kept swinging at the bag, feeling his anger echoing around him. He was just so mad at himself. He was sure that Darcy felt something for him, too, but he had messed it up. And Tony was there, certainly not too afraid to get what he wanted.   
  



	5. Chapter 5

After a quick shower, Darcy grabbed two big coffee mugs and headed back to the labs. Tony was right where she'd left him. When he caught the scent of the coffee, he lifted his head and his eyes brightened, "Gimme, gimme. Oh. this is heaven. What's wrong with you?" he asked as he noticed that Darcy was upset.

She set down her coffee and looked at Tony, "I'm pretty sure Steve thinks we had sex last night."

Tony sputtered, coffee dribbling out of his mouth. "Come again? No pun intended."

Darcy rolled her eyes, "He saw me walking out of here and he- it was like he was mad at me. And then he made all these little comments about me and you and he was acting like he had caught us in the act or something. You don't really think he assumed that just because I spent the night here that we spent the night knocking boots, do you?"

"Huh. That is a very distinct possibility. It's not too hard to believe that you would have fallen victim to my charm."

Darcy stared at him, totally unimpressed. "Let's be serious, Tony. The whole arrogant act does nothing for me. And, sure, you are attractive -shut up- but I would never do that to Pepper, and neither would you."

"Not to mention that you are in love with the ol' Stars and Stripes, right"

Darcy looked down and twisted her sweater, "Maybe, " she said in a small voice, "And maybe I thought he felt the same. I don't know."

"Listen D, I know I'm not exactly a relationship expert. Hell, I hit the lottery with Pepper. I do know that Captain Spangles is an idiot. But he's an idiot that can't keep his eyes off of you. Why else would he have gotten so upset because he thought we were fonduing? If you want my advice, go talk to him. Maybe yell at him for being so stupid."

"Maybe you are right. I am so pissed, though! Him making an assumption like that! And then getting mad at me! Umm, hello, I am an independent woman and I can sleep with whomever I want! And, it's not like he was trying to sleep with me!" She could feel her anger bubbling, he made her feel like shit! And, it was true, she had definitely put out the vibe, if he hadn't made a move yet, it was his own damn fault! Oh, yes, she was definitely going to have words with him.

She looked at Tony, who was staring at her with a slightly terrified look on his face. "Is it wrong that I'm a little turned on by Angry Darcy?" She glared at him and he threw up his hands in surrender, "Sorry! Don't mind me, I'm just gonna go back to my science stuff. Go get him, D," he said with a dark chuckle.

Darcy stormed out of the lab, "JARVIS, is Captain Rogers in the building right now?"

"Yes, Ms. Lewis. And, if I may, I would like to apologize. I was the one who sent the Captain to the lab this morning. I did not realize he would come to the conclusion he did."

Aww, Darcy felt a rush of fondness for the AI. "It's alright, JARVIS. It's not your fault he is an idiot."

"Yes, Ms. Lewis. At this moment, Captain Rogers is in the gym."

Darcy headed towards the elevators, "Thanks, J. You're the best." "You are welcome, Ms. Lewis. Good luck."

Darcy pressed the button for the floor the gym was on and steeled herself for the confrontation she was about to have with Steve. All of the frustration and fruitless hope that she'd had for months began bubbling up inside of her. She was so mad at that man.

 

* * *

 

 

  
"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Steve jumped and looked around for the source of the voice that had intruded in on his pity party. Natasha. Steve shook his head and kept punching, "I'm not really in the mood for company right now."

"That's clear. Now, what could possibly have you so riled up before noon?"

Steve tried to ignore woman staring at him, willing her to go away. She didn't. Steve stopped and looked at her. "Listen, I don't wanna talk about it. Just let me finish my workout, ok?"

"Workout. That is not what I would call a workout. You are upset about something. And I am sure I know exactly what it is."

"Yeah, well, I'm getting a little tired of hearing everyone's theories on why I'm upset." He started punching again, trying to ignore both the woman standing in front of him and the woman who he couldn't get off his mind. Why had she spent the night with Tony? Had he driven her into Tony's arms? Taking a deep breath, Steve looked at Natasha, "I just don't know what to do. Can I tell you something that you can't tell a soul?"

"Of course."

"Darcy spent the night in Tony's lab. With Tony. And when I walked by the window, she was putting on her shirt and she hugged him and I kind of think that something happened between them last night." His words rushed out and he looked over at Natasha.

She didn't seem the least bit concerned "That doesn't sound like Darcy at all. She is very close to Tony, but trust me when I say that it is totally platonic. Also, she practically worships Pepper, there's no way she'd do that to her. Not to mention the fact that she is in love with you. Is it possible you took what you saw out of context?"

"I guess it's possible. I had a whole morning planned and then I see that she has spent the night with Tony in his lab and I saw red. I should've just asked her. I think I may have messed up, Nat."

Natasha just grinned, "Yeah, you probably did. You are a man, after all. Lucky for you, that girl is infatuated with you. Talk to her." At that moment, the door to the gym banged open and Natasha's smirk grew. "Oh, and here's your chance. Good morning, Darcy." Natasha said as she passed her. Steve stood and watched as Darcy nodded at Natasha and continued coming towards him, a storm in her eyes.   
  



	6. Chapter 6

Steve opened his mouth to speak but Darcy held up her hand and shouted, "No! You are not talking. You've said plenty!" She watched as his eyes widened when he saw the fury on her face. "Steve Rogers, you are a fucking idiot! First of all, let me be quite clear, I have never and will never sleep with Tony Stark. I mean, seriously?! Not only does he have an ego bigger than Manhattan, he is pretty fucking smitten with Pepper. And I'm not sure exactly what type of girl you think I am, but I would NEVER do that. Ever. And just the fact that you made that assumption without, oh, I don't know, asking me, infuriates me. I thought you were better than that, I thought _we_ were better than that. Second, even if Tony and I were hooking up, what right would you possibly have to be mad about it? Huh? Because you and I certainly aren't dating. I mean, you have barely spoken to me since I grabbed your junk the other night. On accident, let me remind you. And, I am really sorry I did that, I realize it freaked you out, but my God, Steve it was an accident! Stop punishing me for that! And now you are getting upset because you think I'm with Tony? I just don't understand what you want from me. I have no clue, Steve. Because I--"

Darcy took a deep breath, feeling the tears gather in her eyes. She forced herself to look up at him, "I like you, Steve. I've liked you since I ran into you that first day. I never wanted Tony, or anyone else, I just wanted you. And now it's all messed up. I just, I have to go." Darcy turned and hurried towards the door.

Steve stood in shock. What. Just. Happened.

Slowly, what Darcy had been saying broke through his confusion. She was not with Tony. She liked him. He was an idiot.

And he had to talk to her. Really talk, not just let her yell at him this time, not that he hadn't completely deserved it. He ran out of the gym and saw Darcy walking into the elevator. He ran ahead and stuck his hand in at the last moment before walking in and pushing the emergency stop button. He looked Darcy, red cheeks, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes and a rush of tenderness came over him.

She opened her mouth to speak and he shook his head, "It's my turn to talk." She stood there staring at him and he closed in the space between them, gently cupping her cheek in his hand.

Words had escaped him.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, tangling his fingers in her hair. For a moment, she was too shocked to respond, but then he felt her lips move against his as she let out a soft moan. He deepened the kiss, allowing himself to just feel her against him. This was heaven. Days could have passed. Weeks, months, years, centuries even, yet Steve felt nothing but all the points in which his body was touching Darcy's.

Even super soldiers have to come up for air, though, and he gently broke off the kiss, still cradling her head in his hands. "Sorry, I couldn't go another moment without doing that."

"S'okay." Darcy said in a husky voice.

Steve felt all the blood that was left in the upper part of his body rush down, but he continued, "God, Darce. I am so stupid. If you only knew how many times I've dreamed of doing that to you. I am so sorry for this morning. I was a jerk, plain and simple. Because I have liked you since I first saw you. You are so smart, probably the funniest person I've ever met, and you constantly keep me on my toes, you're incredible. And then I look at you, and you take my breath away. You are so beautiful, Darce. I was just too damn scared to do anything about it. And then, this morning, when I saw you and Tony, I felt like it was all over. I thought I had lost my chance. I panicked. And then just now, when you said that you had feelings for me? It was more than I had ever hoped for. So, can we fix this? Please tell me we can fix this."

Steve looked at Darcy, but she was looking down at the ground, shuffling her feet. Slowly, she lifted her head until she was looking into his eyes. A small grin erupted on her face and she slowly nodded, "I think we can do that. Start over, do it right this time. But I do have one condition."

Steve felt his heart race at her words, "Yes, anything."

"You have to kiss me like that again. Like, a lot."

Steve groaned and leaned down, pulling her close to him, "Yes, ma'am, that can be arranged."  
  



End file.
